Phrase Express Pro
Reviewed April, 2010
| What’s It Do?
PhraseExpress stores commonly used phrases in a data file to save repetitious typing, and these stored phrases can then be pasted into nearly any application. Stored phrases can be linked and dynamic variables such as dates, counters, manual import, multiple choice input, etc., can be added. Data can be backed up and phrases distributed via network or transferred to a new computer. Phrases saved to Windows Clipboard history can be copied. Does it do what it promises? Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: In some ways it did, and in others it did not. PhraseExpress worked well at simple text substitutions (expanding abbreviations as I typed) and calling attention to spelling errors. Most of the time it also succeeded in auto-completing repetitive phrases (i.e., recognizing when I had typed a given string of words multiple times and offering to type most of the string for me), though sometimes it failed to do so or offered wholly irrelevant possibilities. Moreover, my experience with PhraseExpress's macro feature was far from satisfactory. Reviewer 2 – Name Withheld By Request: Yes, mostly. The heart of PhraseExpress is that it will monitor one’s typing for pre-selected text strings and replace them with larger and more complex text. Where it fell short on my system was with the “Text Prediction” function, which was to look for repetitive phrases or sentences (depending on how settings are established) and use them for the basis of future text replacement. This is a complex program that is best suited to the user who produces high volumes of text, ideally with a large amount of repetition. Reviewer 3 – Mark Snyder: Yes. Phrase Express is a keyboard macro utility that manages frequently used text phrases from a taskbar icon and allows one to paste them into any Windows application with a single mouse click, a keyboard shortcut, or a text macro command. The Web Site further states that the programs can “save hours of typing” and that it is ideal for “personnel in office, technical support, customer care, help desk, call center and medical or legal transcription settings.” I would agree with this statement although many hours are needed to learn and master this highly complex and feature-laden program. Reviewer 4 – Dana Cardwell: Yes and no. Yes, in that PhraseExpress Pro does do most of what it advertises; and no, in that it does not do some of the things it advertises. A user should pay particular attention to what is stated on the maker’s web site, as some functions may not work in some programs. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: Of course, PhraseExpress cannot overcome functional limitations of other programs. For example, PhraseExpress supports formatted text snippets. However, PhraseExpress cannot make Windows Notepad to support formatted text. I would like to add that PhraseExpress is not a collection of separate tools but all parts are integrated smoothly into one single engine. Reviewer 5 – Dana Bostick: PhraseExpress is a bit hard to describe. It is a collection of tools for writing and filling out forms on a computer. It provides the functions of a clipboard for frequently used "snippets" of text that can be saved and segregated into a customized folder structure for quick access, it can expand abbreviations as they are typed, text shortcuts can be set up to launch various programs, and it will autocomplete repetitive phrases and correct spelling mistakes in applications that text input. During my testing, it performed all the functions as advertised with some exceptions as noted elsewhere in this report. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: We only added feature that implement well into the existing architecture to keep the program with a small memory footprint. 1. Clipboard history items are actually text snippets that are dynamically added to the phrase library in a special phrase folder. 2. The spelling corrections are actually Autotext phrases that reside in a special folder of the common phrase library. 3. The text prediction feature engine is separate. However, accepted suggestions can be converted into a text snippet by drag & drop in the phrase library tree. Reviewer 6 – Peter Royle: Yes it does, although PhraseExpress is a program that will take time to learn. Some features are easy to use and integrate into daily use. However, I found that I had to put quite a lot of work into getting some of the functions to work, even those which should not have caused trouble. It is a "feature-rich" program, that, in some cases, will require time and effort to master. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: PhraseExpress offers an Easy vs. Expert Mode: The Easy mode provides an easy entry for beginners and configured by default. If you start having additional requirements, you can switch to the Expert mode at any time to enable the complete feature set. Unfortunately, you missed to mention that you get a very explicit warning if you enable the Expert Mode. The power and flexibility of PhraseExpress cannot be accomplished without a certain dedication and learning curve. You have the choice at any time. Blue pill or red pill. PhraseExpress serves both. Was it easy to install? Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request : Yes, although it tried to insert itself into the startup menu without asking. Since I try to limit the number of programs that start with Windows, I had WinPatrol prevent PhraseExpress from adding itself to the startup menu. The program also announced that it was configuring the Windows XP firewall. Since I don't use the firewall built into Windows XP, I wasn't sure why PhraseExpress was doing this, and it offered no explanation. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: I agree that such measure is debatable and we have extensively discussed it in our team several times in the past. The criticizing debate about Startup programs peaked in the mid Nineties when overly obtrusive programs such as RealPlayer started fighting for the pole position on the user's computer. Such programs often placed themselves in the Startup folder without technical reason for the sake of showing marketing blurb popup messages. This is annoying for programs that are actually required on demand (such as a video player). However, programs that run in the background on a system level must be launched with the system as you would miss their functions otherwise in times when you need them most. PhraseExpress is such low system-level utility providing system-wide functions. The chance that one would use PhraseExpress only optionally/occasionally is very small: 1. We had such option in the installer in earlier versions with the result, that inexperienced users complained that PhraseExpress “would not work”. They just forgot to launch it! Indeed, this happened over and over again and unnecessarily occupied our technical support. 2. PhraseExpress is not the sort of program that you would launch occasionally like e.g. Photoshop. If you think that you would need it, it would be too late to start the program in most cases: It does not make sense to launch a spelling correction program after you realize that you made a spelling mistake. It does not make sense either to launch a clipboard history utility after you realize that you need a previous clipboard item. Anyway, you can easily remove the PhraseExpress program link from the Windows startup folder as described at http://manual.phraseexpress.com#autostart. We also offer a separate USB installer that does not place PhraseExpress into the StartUp folder at all. Unfortunately, you missed to mention explain all the installation variations of PhraseExpress in your review anyway (Full installation, USB thumb drive installation, Client-/Server-architecture of the Network Edition). Reviewer 2 – Name Withheld By Request: Installation was fast and straightforward. Reviewer 3 – Mark Snyder: Yes. It is a surprisingly small 3.7MB download that completed in seven seconds on a moderately fast broadband connection. There is a standard wizard to aid in installation and this was smooth and event-free, as was the registration. There are choices offered as to whether one wants networking capability, a sample phrase library, or integration into the right-click context menu—all very much appreciated— along with an interesting warning that the program might be flagged as spyware due to its key logging characteristics. There is a minimum of configuration necessary, but it did place itself in my startup folder to automatically start. There is no desktop icon or an option to create one as it assumes (wrongly, I might add) that everyone would want the program running full time in the background. One needs also be aware that while it is only a 3.7MB download, it requires 8.3MB of space on the hard drive. I was disappointed in the EULA (End user License Agreement). It was a fairly standard single license, i.e. use on only a single computer, which I do find penurious for shareware, especially today when most users have a desktop and laptop/netbook. Additionally, it contained disclaimers as to liability which seemed a bit paranoid: e.g., “The developer will assume no liability for death if the program is used in a nuclear facility or in weapons systems,” etc. Apparently, the developer does not want to be held responsible if some user brings about Armageddon through use of this application. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: This part is taken from our standard EULA also used for our other products that are used in critical operations. If you ever get into the situation to have customers such as the NASA, hospitals, military control centers or public flight control centers, you probably develop a different point of view. ;-) The liability disclaimers was one of the most extensive I have seen in a EULA. Interestingly, there was no mention of any consumer guarantee, money back or otherwise. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: A “money-back” policy is a obnoxious sales tactic to seduce customers to give their money and to hand over sensitive credit card information before they actually had taken their time to evaluate a product carefully. We rather prefer not trying to hard-sell PhraseExpress to our customers. Everybody can evaluate the software risk-free before making a purchase decision. Only buy, if you are confident that it fits your needs. Take your time. The “consumer guarantee” is implemented, as you have evaluated PhraseExpress and come to the conclusion that PhraseExpress is the right choice for you. I was also a bit disconcerted by the following statement also contained in the EULA: We reserve the right to permanently disable license keys if violating of this agreement is detected. Now if the developer (as opposed to the program) were not somehow engaging in some sort of monitoring of my computer, how would they know if I am violating the EULA? I am not accusing the program of being spyware or “calling home” but it does raise a question in my mind, and coming on top of the warning about the program being flagged as spyware by security programs, this is something that the developers need to address and clarify. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: This is covered at http://www.phraseexpress.com/privacy.htm. Reviewer 4 – Dana Cardwell: Yes, the 3.7 MB downloaded exe file installed without any problems or conflicts. It should be noted that Phrase Express Pro adds itself to the Windows Startup folder. Reviewer 5 – Dana Bostick: PhraseExpress MSI Installer file is a 3.7 MB download that ultimately installs to the 8.39 MB directory in the Program Files folder. It may be alternately installed as a ZIP file format or in a special USB version to be run from a U3 flash drive. The actual installation is straightforward and I had no problems with it. The EULA (End User License Agreement) states that the built-in "update feature" logs the license key, time/date of access, Mac and IP addresses for a limited time on the server for security reasons and to avoid software piracy. No personal information is stored. Minor updates containing bug fixes or minor improvements are free of charge and are provided within the release of the current version. Major version updates, such as from version 6 to version 7 are available for a discount to existing users. Reviewer 6 – Peter Royle: No. As explained in “Weak Points” below, I had considerable difficulties in installing the program on two different computers. However, once these difficulties were resolved, it was a relatively standard Windows Installation procedure that allowed me to put the program and its shortcuts in the locations of my choice. The checkbox asking if I wanted to use PhraseExpress on a network was already filled in but only applies when installing the Server Edition. Since this is not likely to be the case for many users, this box should not be checked by default. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: There is no user disadvantage if it is checked. The sole purpose of this option is to disable PhraseExpress from accessing the network completely. This prevents triggering any firewall warning in respect security-sensitive users. However, if we would disable the option by default and if the installer is used by automated software distribution systems in corporate environments, the administrator would then need to be enable the function manually on every single workstation. The upgrade installed very smoothly and seamlessly, asking that I exit from the program before running the installation. No other user input was required. Unfortunately, PhraseExpress attempted to insert itself into my computer start-up procedure without warning. Although the Help file says the following: "During installation you will be asked if PhraseExpress should be automatically started every time the computer starts. If so, a link will be inserted in the Windows Startup file", this was not the case in either of the two times that I installed PhraseExpress. The user should always be able to decide what is running on his computer at any time. Anything in the startup group, using system resources while the computer is on, should be explained, and user permission requested. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: It tells you that we really had such option in previous versions. ;-) We have updated the online manual in the meantime. Registration is a simple copy-and-paste operation. It will, however, "check home" to see if the key has been used on another computer. I did not want to keep the program on two computers, but had considerable difficulty in transferring the license key from one computer to a different one. After considerable discussion on this question with support, I was finally able to resolve the issue. I understand a developer’s desire to be paid for his work, and PhraseExpress has developed a good method for ensuring that people pay for the license; however, the transfer process should be reexamined and streamlined. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: It is as easy as clicking on “Remove license from this computer” as explained at http://manual.phraseexpress.com#deregister. Good points. Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request : PhraseExpress offers an extensive array of features designed to help the user type faster and more efficiently. For example, it can expand abbreviations as one types; correct one's spelling errors; open documents with any program without having to find the file, right click, select "Open With," and scroll down to choose a program; auto-complete repetitive phrases; insert entire sentences, paragraphs, or images into a document by simply typing a shortcut called an "autotext"; insert the current date and/or time; create an automated message that allows the user to enter additional text at one or more specified positions within the message; create email messages with predefined recipients, subject header, message body, and attachments; launch programs or navigate to Web sites via a text shortcut; and much more. It's true that some of these features can be found in individual applications such as Microsoft Word. But with PhraseExpress, the user is not limited to a single program. Its features can be used in any application. Moreover, PhraseExpress can import Autotext and AutoCorrect entries that the user may have created in MS Office, thereby making it possible to use them in other programs as well. More details about these and other features (including some video demonstrations) can be found on the PhraseExpress Web site at http://www.phraseexpress.com/ . (One caveat: a number of the features I have mentioned are not available in the least expensive commercial version.) Another good point is that PhraseExpress is being actively developed. In the four months that I used the program, there were eight updates to the version with which I started. One further good point is that the Standard version of PhraseExpress is available at no cost for personal use as long as the user receives no financial benefit (see "Other comments," below.). Reviewer 2- Name Withheld By Request: Once PhraseExpress is properly configured, it can speed one’s typing and minimize the number of keystrokes. The Help section was interspersed with short video clips, which demonstrated how to execute each function. This was very helpful. There are collections of words and phrases that can be downloaded to rapidly increase the functionality of this program. Most notable is a 46,000-item list for medical transcription. PhraseExpress ran on my system for months with no obvious compromise to other programs. Reviewer 3 – Mark Snyder: There is much to admire about his program, the least of which is its flexibility and seemingly unlimited features. There are, however, a few items unique and/or worthy of special mention:  The excellent instruction manual that can be downloaded
separately. The manual contains easy-to-understand instructions
for a complicated program and is augmented by video
demonstrations and tutorials. Without this manual this program
would be almost useless to most; Unlike most text-replacement applications, Phrase Express
allows connecting a single key press to multiple text phrases.
For example, if I have several salutations that I use, i.e.
“Dear Sir.” “Dear Madam,” “Gentlemen,” “To Whom It May Concern,”
or even “Hi Mom,” I can assign them all to a single key press
such as ctrl-alt-S and then choose the one I need for that
particular letter; Applications can be launched by enabling hotkey combinations; Using a feature called “AutoText” a text can be assigned that
is used frequently, such as an address to an abbreviation such
as “ad” or even a URL to “url” so that whenever that
abbreviation is used the address will be inserted. What is
noteworthy, however, is that the program recognizes unwanted
AutoTexts and will suppress the text replacement the next time
AutoText is entered; The text prediction feature checks for patterns that repeat in
the text and offers to then auto-complete them. In other words,
the program analyses and learns writing patterns, and then
offers suggestions on how to complete phrases and even
sentences; Existing Microsoft Office or Word AutoCorrect entries can be
imported for use in any Windows program; All phrases are stored in a separate data file which allows
for simple backup or transferred to a new computer; and, While Phrase Express works with most if not all programs that
involve typing or text, it allows the user to exclude selected
programs as well. These are just a few of the many features such as a clipboard manager, powerful macro functions, spell-check, etc. These all worked well in my testing. Reviewer 4 – Dana Cardwell: Phrase Express Pro is a unique type of program that is designed to save time by inserting phrases that are used repetitively. The interface is intuitive and most experienced users will be able to use Phrase Express Pro without first reading the manual. There are several video tutorials that demonstrate how to use many of the functions of Phrase Express Pro. These video tutorials are very short and informative and make learning how to use Phrase Express Pro much easier. To make full use of Phrase Express Pro, the user should read the instruction manual to determine how a specific function is setup in Phrase Express Pro. Phrase Express Pro did save me time and typing by inserting whole phrases based upon the autotext entry I set up for the phrase. I found acronyms an easy way to establish and remember autotext triggers for a whole list of different phrases. I was able to create several phrases with the same autotext trigger, which presented a popup list allowing me to choose the phrase I wanted. Phrase Express Pro allows entry of a phrase by use of the task bar tray icon in case I forgot the autotext trigger. After a user amasses a large list of phrases and autotext entries, it is possible that some of the autotext entries established could be wrongly identified as another word typed. I like the way Phrase Express Pro allows the user to select the option that Phrase Express Pro presents (when needed) or continue typing because the phrase was not desired. I also like the ability to limit the use of some phrases to specific programs. Phrase Express Pro will insert graphic files with the same ease as it inserts text phrases, as long as the program being used supports this function. Phrase Express Pro can insert graphic files in Word and WordPad, but cannot insert graphic files in NotePad, Outlook, or Outlook Express. This allows easy addition of a company logo to a Word document without having to make or use a graphic embedded template. I enjoyed the extension of the Windows’ Clipboard function by allowing multiple clipboard contents in programs that don’t offer that feature like NotePad and WordPad. Since most Microsoft Office versions of Word offer this function, the clipboard manager in Phrase Express Pro is not needed. I tested the Macro function utilizing some of the macro included in Phrase Express Pro and found them to function very smoothly and very quickly. I like the macro for the current date and time stamp to be added to time-sensitive material. It was very easy to create my own phrase (form) with macro using Phrase Express Pro. I was impressed with the visual basic coding created by Phrase Express Pro by the simple selection of menu items in Phrase Express Pro. Reviewer 5 – Dana Bostick: If one does a lot of word processing or needs to fill in a lot of forms, this program could be quite useful. It works in any application such as filling in Web forms, chat sessions or custom data base applications as well as typical office desktop applications. For Microsoft Word users, PhraseExpress will import Word’s existing AutoCorrect file. I found that I was able to use it in all of my Web-based email applications (with some limitations due to the Web mail restrictions) such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Hotmail; however, some Web mail does not support the direct insertion of graphics in the mail body. Picture files must be attachments. It was very flexible and customizable in that I could create my own folder structure within its database and set up a hotkey to access those special folders. Navigation was also quite easy via right clicking on the tray icon and selecting from the folder menu that pops out all selection options within that menu. For a user with coding abilities, PhraseExpress offers the ability to create customized macros to control the program's operation. For example, using #date can insert the current date. This function can customize the program to one’s needs if the basic file and folder structure is not enough. The program can be used in several ways. One can use the predefined text shortcuts or queues to insert preformatted sections of text into your document or simply right-click the tray icon and drag the appropriate phrase or text snippet into the document or text field. Using the "floating menu" one could, for example, have all of contact information quickly available in a small floating box for simple dragging into a text field to fill out an online form. That can save a lot of typing as this is a pretty common task. PhraseExpress makes extensive use of the Windows Clipboard history. The standard Windows clipboard is "volatile" in that the next copied clip overwrites the existing item. PhraseExpress monitors the clipboard history and stores these items in the database. This makes them available for reuse on a temporary basis or to be selected for saving as new phrases to be added to your collection. PhraseExpress also monitors the keyboard activity and is "aware" of what one is typing. For example, typing "sig” can automatically insert a text signature or a graphical signature at the location of the cursor. If there are several signatures, the appropriate one can be selected from a list that appears automatically after typing the key phrase or text queue. Reviewer 6 – Peter Royle: The Help file is well-designed and very complete; in fact, it is one of the better ones that I have seen. The Manual can be accessed from the Help Menu, in the PhraseExpress Settings, or with the F1 key. It is laid out in logical progression from creating the first new phrase to Troubleshooting. Although the explanations are clear, some of them require some careful study. They are suitable for expanding skills and usage of the feature only after one becomes familiar with a particular function. Throughout the help is a series of excellent Video Tutorials that demonstrate how to use many of the PhraseExpress features and, where merited, suggest some of the more advanced possibilities to explore later. The feature that I use the most is the “Phrases” that I create with PhraseExpress. Much of my work, for example, concerns more than a dozen communities with fairly complicated names. Over time, I have developed short-hand three-letter combinations to refer to each of the communities. When I am preparing a final document, I will do a search-and-replace to have the names appear properly, but this does not work in all the applications I use. With PhraseExpress I can use the same shorthand that I have developed, but let PhraseExpress do an immediate replacement without regard to the application or environment that I am working in. I like the feature of creating a whole list of phrases by working in the PhraseExpress tree, simply choosing New Phrase, setting the Autokey, then click New Phrase again, until my whole list was done. By putting these Phrases in their own folder in the PhraseExpress Tree, I can keep them well-organized and they are easy to access when I need to tweak or edit one or another of the phrases. The PhraseExpress Tree is easy to display, and provides some very useful tools to manage the items in the tree. An additional plus is the ability of PhraseExpress to use the Rich Text Format as well as plain text. There are several standard messages that I use frequently that are formatted with different styles and fonts for better comprehension. Until now, I have them all in a special folder and use a word processor to open, copy, and paste them to my email client. Now, with PhraseExpress and its .RTF formatting associated with a hot key, I have eliminated several steps and save significant time. In addition to having PhraseExpress check spelling, short-cuts can expand text to words or even long, formatted, blocks of text. Shortcuts can be created to do a number of "dynamic" insertions (for example, put in the current date), to start-up often-used programs, get to important folders or files, or go to favourite Web sites. I found the clipboard manager to be useful to keep a number of the bits and pieces of information that have recently gone into the clipboard. For a complete list of clipboard captures, the clipboard manager can be dragged from the system tray icon and placed on the desktop. Weak points. Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: For me, a key factor in determining whether I buy and/or recommend a program is the quality of its tech support. This is especially true of feature-rich programs like PhraseExpress. Unfortunately, I found PhraseExpress's tech support inadequate and very disappointing. Several times I ran into difficulty creating macros. I was never trying to do anything terribly complex, but for one reason or another, what I tried didn't work. I turned to the support forum for help but found it of little use. The moderator usually replied promptly, but his answers tended to be quite terse, and if what he suggested didn't work, he was often unwilling to provide further explanation or suggestions. Instead, he informed others and me that if we wanted further help, we should buy a support ticket at a cost of $90 for 30 minutes of help. After one exchange of messages, the moderator stated that the forum is there to help if someone has an installation issue or suspects that there's a bug in the software, but "if you seek assistance or support for your individual automation tasks," you should buy a $90 support ticket. I have participated in many software support forums, and never before have I encountered one so unwilling to provide free help for users of its programs. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: PhraseExpress is free for personal use and used by hundred thousands users world-wide at no charge. As everybody can easily review, we try to answer general user questions in our public support forum at http://forum.phraseexpress.com in a timely manner. All that is provided free-of-charge. However, we kindly ask for your understanding that it would be impossible for us to provide unlimited free support for advanced custom macro programming. Microsoft also would not help you with a personal consultant how to realize your individual software project just because you use their Visual C++ program compilers. We offer macro programming services but please understand that this cannot be done free-of-charge. As far as I know, we already tried to explain that in great length to you at that time. Obviously without success. You also have not identified yourself as a paying customer in the forum at that time. Please note that paying customers get extended support. Not only is the support forum exceptionally ungenerous in the assistance it is willing to provide, it is also at times highly misleading in its presentation of messages. On more than one occasion, my messages seeking help were altered or even removed. For example, I wrote to ask why bookmarks in a text file were missing when I opening the file using a PhraseExpress macro but not when I opened the file directly with my text editor or with a macro from a competing program (which I did not name, since I did not want to seem as if I were promoting another program). I mentioned the competing program's success in opening the file so that it would not seem as if the problem were simply the fault of my text editor. The moderator removed all mention of the fact that the competing program handled the matter successfully. He then replied that the issue seemed to be related to my text editor, over which PhraseExpress had no control. His response would have seemed much less reasonable had he not removed a key part of my message. I sent a follow-up message, but it was quickly removed. A later message I sent about a different problem was also removed. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: The support forum does not intend to be an archive of all questions ever asked but as a knowledge base of questions and answers that interest the majority of users. We remove postings that handle specific issues that only happen in very special/rare configurations. We do this to keep the forum easy to browse. All that is explained in the forum policy. Other than the disappointing support forum, the only place to which a user can turn for help without having to pay $90 for a support ticket is the User's Manual. The Manual covers many basic topics and includes some brief video demonstrations, but it would be considerably more useful if it offered more extensive explanations and examples. The #run macro that will launch a program is explained as follows: "The macro function {#run"c:\path\application.exe" "-myparameter" "c:\myworkingdirectory"} launches the specified program." The explanation offers no example that illustrates inclusion of a parameter. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: We thought that a user who is aware about parameters and wants to use them is aware about how to use them. Additionally, the parameter syntax is automatically configured if you use the recommended macro input dialogs with the “add macro function” button (rather than typing the macro function manually). Moreover, it contains a vital error: it fails to leave a space between #run and what follows it. I tried to follow the example, including the lack of spacing, and was puzzled when it failed to work. I wrote to the forum for help and included the macro as I had written it. I received no response. Three days later, I finally recognized that the User's Manual was at fault in not including proper spacing in the example. I wrote to the forum to announce that I had found the solution, and I suggested that the User's Manual should be corrected. Almost two months later, no correction has yet been made. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: We must have missed this suggestion and have corrected it now. Our apologies for the mistake. At first, I was also disappointed in what seemed to be somewhat sluggish and peculiar performance of some PhraseExpress macros. For example, I used the #TEXTFILE macro to insert a schedule of moderators into my text editor. The insertion took about five seconds, and each line was indented further than the one before, so that the start of the listing looked like this: Week Dates Moderator 9 March 1-7 Josh 10 March 8-14 Jean 11 March 15-21 Christian 12 March 22-28 Jean 13 March 29-Ap 4 Josh 14 April 5-11 Christian Because the lines weren't supposed to be indented, I tried an equivalent macro in ActiveWords, a program similar to PhraseExpress, to see whether it too would have this problem. ActiveWords inserted the schedule without indentation in approximately one second rather than five. Only much later did I discover that PhraseExpress offers two methods of text insertion, key-by-key and pasting via the clipboard. The default, alas, is key-by-key, resulting in slower performance. When I changed the default to clipboard, PhraseExpress's performance was similar in speed and appearance to that of ActiveWords. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: Both text insertion methods have their merits as described at http://manual.phraseexpress.com#pastemethod . PhraseExpress offers you the choice, most other text expander programs don’t. I had occasional problems as well with PhraseExpress's text prediction feature. It is supposed to keep track of what I write, and if it senses that I have started to write a phrase that it recognizes, a blue box will pop up to offer me the chance to have PhraseExpress insert the rest of the phrase. Sometimes it worked as it was supposed to, but at other times it offered phrases that were not at all what I had intended to write. Simply starting a sentence with "The" was enough to trigger the blue box, offering to complete my sentence with "current user's name is johnsmith" (I've changed my actual username for reasons of privacy). That's not a sentence I'd be likely to write. Typing "This is" produced the blue box's suggestion that what I wanted to say was either "This isn't working the way I want it to" or "This isn't working the way I want it to!" The only difference was the presence of an exclamation mark, and I was asked to choose between those two versions. In fact, however, I had no intention of writing either of those sentences. PhraseExpress does permit the user to set the number of characters that are typed before the box appears, but I found that if I set the number high enough to avoid inappropriate offerings, there wasn't much point to my having the feature at all. I suspect that some people may find this feature quite useful, but if I were to continue to use PhraseExpress, I would turn it off. Reviewer 2 – Name Withheld By Request: This is not the easiest program to get comfortable with. It performs a variety of similar but distinctly different functions, and I found the manual and help sections to be fragmented. Therefore, I had the uncomfortable feeling that I was missing the utilization of potentially important and useful functions. This was compounded by the program’s reliance on keyboard hotkey combinations that have to be remembered to be useful. I found the text portion of the manual difficult to use. It frequently gave technical information without providing the details needed to bring the issue to completion. For example, the section on troubleshooting “text prediction” lists one of the possible causes of malfunction as the file where the phrases are stored as being “read-only”; however, the section does not advise what that file is or where it is located. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: We thought that it might be safe to assume, that users would know where the file is located if they also managed to make it read-only beforehand. The “Clipboard Cache”, the feature that expands Windows Clipboard by retaining multiple items stored on the Clipboard, represents a potential security hazard. I found that multiple passwords I had copied from an encrypted password list were displayed here in plain text. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: This applies to all clipboard history utilities in general. No such program can distinguish sensitive information from other text. However, you can disable the clipboard manager in PhraseExpress if you have security concerns. By the way, the text prediction feature has measures to ignore passwords. Additionally, you can limit the scope to certain programs and leave out programs that require password input. We will extend this feature to the clipboard manager in a future version. “Text Prediction” is supposed to passively monitor one’s typing and recognize repetitive sentences. It did not work on my system. I was not able to successfully troubleshoot it using the tools in the manual or the suggestions on the forum. Seeking individual help via the forum is a cumbersome process. One must first register, providing a user name, email address (in duplicate), a password (in duplicate) and the first four characters of the license code. Then they send an email which one must click on to activate the account after which the user must negotiate his way back through multiple screens to return to the forum, navigating to the end of the page to find the button to post a new topic, then logging in. renegotiating back to the forum, clicking on the “newtopic” button, and finally entering the question and revisiting the forum later to determine if there is a reply. The good news is that my post had an administrative reply posted within 90 minutes on a weekend. The bad news is that it was a short reply, which did not give me sufficient information to solve my problem. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: What you describe in amazingly great detail is nothing but the gold standard procedure of registering with about any website or forum existing on the web. In fact, we use one of the most popular party forum system “phpBB” that is used by millions websites with the same registration requirements. There is absolutely nothing special about it. Reviewer 3 – Mark Snyder: While there were no serious glitches, there were areas of concern and/or in need of improvement. There needs to be an option to configure the program not to autostart. Most do more on their computers than type, so there
is no need to have this program running in the background
needlessly consuming resources; I think the choice to place an icon on the desktop is needed
for those who do not want the program running in the background.
I would prefer to have an icon that I can click to open the
program when needed rather than wade through my start program
searching for this application. I did make a short cut icon by
right-clicking on the program folder but again, this should be
an option during installation; Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: This is a standard Windows task. You can easily place a copy of the program icon on your Windows desktop. There seems to be no way that I discovered to have AutoText
place names or information in filling out forms without hitting
“Enter” which then causes the Web site to assume one is
finished, often causing an error message; Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: You can configure PhraseExpress to execute Autotexts immediately if you set the Autotext option “Execute immediately” as shown here: http://screencast.com/t/MGIwMmIxNzQ. We thought, that this option would be descriptive enough. Our apologies for the confusion. The GUI (Graphic User Interface) is Spartan and, like the
program itself, not intuitive. Without the help
manual—especially the sections “Tips & Tweaks” and
“Troubleshooting”—I would have had no idea whatsoever how to use
this program. For me, a user’s manual should help the user but
not be an absolute requirement for using the program; There is a very high and time-consuming learning curve. This
is not so much a criticism as an observation but I think the
learning curve could be improved by a more intuitive and
user-friendly GUI; Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: In Easy Mode, PhraseExpress’ user interface is very clean and only provides the most basic options and menu items. There is not a big chance to get lost and you can just start using it by trying the available options. The option “Create a new phrase” does really do that: Creating a new phrase. And that is, what you most probably want in the beginning. You probably want to populate PhraseExpress with phrases. The program uses too many resources. Just sitting in my system
tray, doing nothing, it consumed almost 15MB of RAM memory.
Considering that my firewall, active at all times, consumes only
8MB and Microsoft Word while being used consumes only 12MB, I
think the developers should take a look at how use of resources
can be reduced for Phrase Express; Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: The Windows Task Manager may show that more memory is reserved for an application. However, memory is dynamically allocated and released if another application requests memory demand, Windows would withdraw the memory reserved for PhraseExpress and provide it other applications. The actual demand of physical RAM is far less then displayed. Additionally, the task manager does not show extra components required by programs. Word requires many linked libraries that are not shown in the task manager. PhraseExpress, however, does not require any additional .dll (dynamically linked library). There is a concern that information about my computer and
usage (non-personal, I assume) is being transmitted to the
developer without my knowledge or express permission, ergo the
earlier statement in the EULA. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: Such unsubstantial and potentially defamatory assumptions are as offending as we would assume that your review website would publish illegal material. Please read http://www.phraseexpress.com/spyware.htm and http://www.phraseexpress.com/privacy.htm. I did note in the installation process that one of the steps was “Configuring Windows Firewall” (which I do not use) that is just one more cause for suspicion; and, Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: This is required only if you keep the network option enabled. PhraseExpress needs to have access to the network if you wish to use PhraseExpress in a network. Help and support. First of all the good: There are excellent
video demonstrations on the Web site, there is an excellent
users manual, there is an active users forum which seems to be
manned by the developer himself with near instant responses,
there is a newsletter, and there is free support for
installation issues for 30 days. Sadly and inexcusably, for any
direct customer support one must pay a usurious fee of $90.00
for 30 minutes of either telephone or email time (plus the long
distance charges for a call to Germany, I assume). [See below
for further comments on this issue.]Again, the program itself performed flawlessly and my aforementioned comments raise only my concerns or areas in need of attention or improvement. Reviewer 4 – Dana Cardwell: Phrase Express Pro appears to be geared for commercial use and expects the video tutorials, instruction manual, and forum to answer user questions. Support via email or phone costs extra and there is no free support. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: This is not correct. We offer free support at http://forum.phraseexpress.com . We only charge for advanced custom macro programming. I fully understand the cost of support, but most users expect free support for at least a short time (for installation and setup problems). I think this fact should be made clear to the customer before the product is purchased. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: We do that. Please visit http://support.phraseexpress.com. The Phrase Express Pro Web site states that Phrase Express Pro will automatically correct spelling errors. This would give the impression that Phrase Express Pro has full spell-checker capabilities. The spell-check library includes only about 3,000 commonly misspelled words and those misspelled words must be misspelled exactly as the misspellings listed in the library. For Example: Phrase Express Pro will detect library misspelled as libary but not as libray. Phrase Express Pro does not have true spell checker function, but rather a special downloaded autocorrect file containing the very most common misspelling of very common words. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: PhraseExpress can also correct partial misspellings in the beginning (or end) of a word. Please see http://manual.phraseexpress.com#autotext for more details. Many times in many different applications Phrase Express Pro did not respond to the autotext established for a phrase. Sometimes, repeated entry of the autotext would not result in Phrase Express Pro recognizing the autotext and Phrase Express Pro would not offer or enter the established phase. When this happened, I found that opening another application and returning to the application in which I had the problem resulted in Phrase Express Pro recognizing the autotext entry. While Phrase Express Pro was not responding to the autotext entry, I could still type in the applications so the application was active for the current keystrokes. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: It’s a feature, not a bug. While you tested PhraseExpress, you entered Autotexts and probably deleted them with backspaces and/or by undoing them with CTRL-Z. In this case, PhraseExpress suppresses the phrase the next time you enter the Autotext because PhraseExpress assumes that you did not wanted the text replacement in that particular event. Please see http://manual.phraseexpress.com#unwanted for more details. Phrase Express Pro could not insert a graphic signature into either Outlook 2003 or Outlook Express. After the command, the screen would flash but the graphic was not inserted. It would be nice if Phrase Express Pro would display an error message when it can’t perform the requested function. I found this lack of inserting graphics into Outlook and Outlook Express to be strange when I was able to insert the graphic with a simple copy and paste function of Windows. This is especially disappointing, considering the claims on the Web site to manage email signatures - as long as the signature is not a graphic. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: Indeed, bitmaps and Outlook is a tricky issue: Sometimes, Outlook adds an image pasted via the clipboard as an attachment to the email. PhraseExpress inserts bitmaps correctly if pasted as a part of a html phrase. Reviewer 5 – Dana Bostick: Many programs, this one included, produce Help files or manuals in HTML formatting. Unfortunately, PhraseExpress automatically opens these files in Internet Explorer and totally ignores one’s default browser settings. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: PhraseExpress does not more than triggering Windows to open a plain html page. It is entirely up to your Windows configuration which browser is used. PhraseExpress does not choose IE in particular and it does not alter your browser settings at all. Help in the drop-down menu launches IE to the hyperlinked table of contents that is the PhraseExpress' manual. This is not my preference of browser and there does not seem to be a way to change it.. I did not find the manual very user friendly. It did not appear to be searchable and required drilling down through the linked menu structure in an attempt to find the answer I was looking for. I much prefer a searchable manual where I can type in a search term and have any relevant information immediately displayed. For a program that is supposedly a "productivity enhancer", this is a cumbersome implementation that actually wastes time, not saves it. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: Your browser itself has a search function that is perfectly suitable to perform searches in the PhraseExpress documentation. On my first attempt to import my Microsoft Word AutoCorrect files the application crashed. After restarting the application, I was able to successfully import these files. Unfortunately, I was never able to find a way to edit, modify or add to this AutoCorrect file to customize it for my own personal preferences (or my own lack of typing skills). I was also never successful in getting it to insert a graphic file such as a picture or a scanned signature into a word processing document. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: The AutoCorrect entries are in the folder named “AutoCorrect entries” in the phrase tree structure in the main program window. Here is a screenshot: http://www.phraseexpress.com/pics/screenshots/pex_autoCorrect_import_en.png. At least one entry that I found in the "Phrases & Folders" menu "AutoCorrect" was still in the German language text. This should be corrected for the English version of the program. Support is available via a forum system. It seems to be fairly current and the majority of the questions were addressed by the "admin" from PhraseExpress. The main issue I have with this forum is that it was not searchable unless one registers for the forum, providing username, e-mail address, and password and then logs into the forum after receiving a confirmation email. Reviewer 6 – Peter Royle: After first installing and registering PhraseExpress I got a series of errors. With the program running, my Enter keys ceased to exist but worked normally without the program active. I restarted PhraseExpress from the Start Menu and the computer crashed, with a PhraseExpress pop-up asking me to submit a bug report. When I received no reply from that report after a week, I again contacted the support staff, and indicated that I had not even received an acknowledgement of my email and report to them. This is the answer that I received the next day: We receive many different bug reports and feature suggestions. Our developers try to analyze this data as quick as possible to provide fixes in later versions. In cases where additional information is needed we contact users. We have got your email and we will do our best to find out what the problem is and fix it. In other words, it is unfortunate that PhraseExpress crashed your computer. Even if we get around to looking at your problem and finding a fix, you won't be notified. If I were not committed to test out this program, I would have restored the computer to a pre-PhraseExpress condition, deleted the installation file completely, and gone on to other things. Installation on a second computer presented other problems. I was not able to get to the Web site via the PhraseExpress right-click menu from the system tray. The tutorials did not work well, perhaps because they were incompatible with the Opera browser I was using. I received an error message that “Windows cannot find www.text-expander.com”. Using the Users forum to reach support this time, after several attempts they advised me "Something seems to be wrong with your computer. Our apologies for the trouble but we can't troubleshoot this from here". At that point, I temporarily changed my default browser to Firefox and, later, installed the most recent upgrade. The problem seems to have taken care of itself, and the feature works as it should. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: It seems that your computer was unable able to open a standard web page. This general computer problem really has nothing to do with PhraseExpress at all and we kindly ask for your understanding that our support staff is not able to provide general help to fix your computer. We have tried to explain that to you already at that time. With the second installation I had problems registering the program. Again, I went to the Forum to try to resolve the problem. In their replies, the forum administrators continually pointed me to the help file requiring that I take some specific actions that did not apply in my instance. The issue was finally resolved with direct email contact and, oddly, the series of postings on this particular problem have disappeared from the forum. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: The support forum does not intend to be an archive of all questions ever asked. It is rather a knowledge base of questions and answers that interest the majority of users. We remove postings that handle specific issues that only happen in very special/rare configurations. We do this to keep the forum easy to browse. This would not be the case if we would keep all individual issues or issues that are actually explained in the manual. All that is explained in the forum policy and we already tried to explain that to you in great length at that time. I could not find the Input Forms feature that is only available in the licensed Professional version. The Support Forum as of no help because they told me to simply study the manual and view the Video. Developer's Web site. Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request : The Web site does a good job of addressing the needs of prospective customers while not overlooking current users. The home page and several internal pages describe some of PhraseExpress's key features and, on occasion, include short videos demonstrating the features. The Shop page includes a chart comparing the features available in PhraseExpress's different versions, along with links to a page where customers can purchase any of these versions. The Download page provides links to download the software program, and it also includes a useful listing of version changes, a link to the User's Manual, and some additional text templates for use with the current version of PhraseExpress. The Support page reminds users to be sure they are using the most recent version and also provides links to the User's Manual and the Support Forum. Finally, the Contact page gives those with non-technical questions an opportunity to ask questions or provide feedback to the company. I was impressed that the entire Web site - even the videos -is available in both English and German. Reviewer 2 – Name Withheld By Request: The Web site gives a good detailed description of the capabilities of the company’s software without being excessively commercial. There is an active forum that features rapid replies by administrative staff. This is their preferred conduit for support. Individual attention can be arranged but at the steep cost of $90 per half-hour session. Reviewer 3 – Mark Snyder: The Web site was very clean and professional looking, easy to navigate, and with ample white space to make it easy to read. There were none of the anonymous and out-of-context snipes from so-called “satisfied customers” that so often distract and raise warning signs for me, nor was the Web site designed only to sell the product but to help understand the product for sale as well. Reviewer 4 – Dana Cardwell: The developer’s Web site was straightforward and easy to navigate, but nearly every page came with a download button. The best form of free support seems to come from the forum on the developer’s Web site. Review of past questions showed that most queries made were responded to by the site administrator (employee of developer) in a timely fashion; however, the reply usually simply referred to the instruction manual rather than provide a customized response. Reviewer 5 – Dana Bostick: The Web site is clean in its presentation and contains links to many video tutorials on the various functions of this application. On the other hand, attempting to actually find some specific information about the program such as what operating systems it supports was not easy. I finally did locate the information on the "Download" page. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: We would be curious to learn where else you would expect it? Reviewer 6 – Peter Royle: It took me a bit of time to get used to the PhraseExpress Web site. At first, it looks like many other sites, with links across the top of the screen, such as Home, Product, Shop, etc., and a few links on the side panel that vary depending on the page visited. But I often could not really drill down to find details of what I was looking for, because, I did not see the usual blue, underlined hyperlinks I am used to. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: We have added the underlined links for you now. Once I discovered that hyperlinks were simply underlined without the typical blue color, I found the site to be full of very interesting and well-presented material. There is very little that is obvious advertising or sales pitching and most of the site is full of interesting help, tips, tutorials, pointers, and information. The video tutorials are explained by someone who is speaking English as a second language, but does so clearly and well. The Support Forum is actively monitored by the PhraseExpress staff and they respond within a day, often in less than one hour. Other comments. Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request: PhraseExpress comes in three different commercial versions: Easy ($29.95), Standard ($49.95), and Professional ($139.95). This last is the version reviewed here. There is also a version available for use on a network. The "easy" version is very limited; it does not include macros, text prediction, and some other useful features. The Standard version includes most of the features a user is likely to need. The Professional version adds three more features, but it is hard to justify paying almost three times the price unless one desperately needs those added features. A chart outlining the differences among the versions is available at http://www.phraseexpress.com/docs7/09/shop.php. Purchasing any of these versions, even the most expensive, entitles use of the program on only one computer. The company also makes the PhraseExpress Standard version available free for personal use; however, the company's definition of personal use is somewhat narrower than usual. A statement on the Web page explains that "any activity where the user receives financial benefit from that task (salary, wages, commission, revenue, etc.) is considered commercial use. This includes educational and/or charity organizations if the actual user is being paid for the task." The company also checks word usage and other unstated parameters to be sure the program is not being used for commercial purposes. Given the fact that I could not get several important features to work consistently as they should, plus the fact that the licensed program can be used on only one computer and that tech support is extremely limited unless one buys support tickets at $90 each, I cannot recommend PhraseExpress. There are similar programs that work well without PhraseExpress's limitations. Reviewer 2 – Name Withheld By Request: This program is less suitable for the casual writer, and most suitable to the writer who produces high volumes of text with high levels of repetition. There is both a steep learning curve to climb and a high level of customization needed to bring the benefits of this program to its full potential. I loaded the medical transcription collection. While this would be an excellent resource on a system where all that was done was medical writing, I found that it interfered with this program’s effectiveness in my non-medical writing; it simply popped up too many non-relevant medical suggestions. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: That is, why PhraseExpress has the feature to limit Autotexts to particular programs: http://manual.phraseexpress.com#progs. Alternatively, you can quickly disable/enable individual phrase folders by right-clicking them in the main program window’s phrase tree. Reviewer 3 – Mark Snyder: I really wanted to recommend this program. While I thought it required too much of a learning curve to master, that is really a personal opinion as I am one of those individuals who tend to dismiss a program if it cannot be simply opened and used. My reason for not recommending this program is due to the product support. As I have consistently stated previously, no paid (shareware program) product that charges for support is likely to get my recommendation. If the cost of support is so high that the developer must charge for it, I assume the need for support must be similarly high and thus the program has serious problems. Now to add further insult, this developer is offering me direct support only if I am willing to pay $90.00 per half-hour in either telephone or email time I can only hope he or she writes or talks fast!), and this for a very expensive $140.00 program! My doctor does not charge this much to help me and she has the potential to save my life, not to mention that she had upwards of 15 years of training before being able to offer me her help! I suspect this program has earned its reputation and made its success on the freeware version and I have no quibble with charging for support in this instance (although, $90.00 for a half hour is still unconscionable), but if it wants to sell its professional version of the program (which actually offers little over the free version and certainly not $140.00 for the added features, in my opinion) it needs to reconsider its support policy. Thus, my advice is to download the free version or any one of the alternate programs available. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: After the eighth(!) time you mention it, it seems to be clear now, that you consider our rates expensive. We say: You get what you are paying for. Something is “expensive” only if it is not worth it. Our customers appreciate to get professional help straight from the actual developers of the software to realize advanced programming tasks in a fraction of the time the customer would need. Consequently, our consulting services are well worth every dollar if you are a professional user. Regarding our hour rates, please keep in mind, that you hire our developer and not any junior or outbound support staff. If you compare our rates with industry standard rates for senior specialized developers you will probably need to adjust your opinion. By the way, one of your reviewer seems to be a dentist - I get less time from my local dentist for the same rate. So much for conscionable rates. :-) Reviewer 4 – Dana Cardwell: The cost of the software (pro version is $140) and the time spent learning how to setup and correctly use the program must be weighed against a one’s repeated use of phrases, graphic, forms, etc. If there is a need to type numerous items in which the same phrase, logo, or form items are used on a regular basis; then Phrase Express Pro would be a good investment. Personally, I think it is a lot of money for what it does. Reviewer 5 – Dana Bostick: I found many of the preconfigured folders for phrases such as "Famous Quotes" and a folder called "websites" are only useful in that they provided an example of what one could do in creating a folder structure that . The “Websites” folder contained links to sites that I would never likely need. For a program targeted at a commercial environment, why would one wish to have links targeted to "Body Care" or "Fashion” or a "Miscellaneous" category with over 30 random links to obviously commercial retail sites? Every link in the list I tried failed to actually open the Web page (possibly due to cookie settings) and it definitely appeared to be a link-back tracking system. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: As they are labeled “Sample phrases”, please consider them as complimentary samples that illustrate usage possibilities. They are not designed for actual professional use as every user probably have their own requirements. The samples in PhraseExpress are not hard-wired. You can easily delete them by pressing the delete button. You can also completely go without the sample phrases if you deselect the option during the installation procedure. We have reviewed and cleaned out any expired web pages in the meantime. Like with any new tool, one must invest a bit of time in learning how to use it in order for it to be an effective timesaver. This one is no different. There are a lot of preconfigured shortcuts, text snippets and abbreviations but one must learn where they are and how to access them before using them. Additionally, someone else's idea of a commonly used phrase may not conform to the user’s style and one must invest the time to generate the commonly used text snippets. This is easily done by highlighting the text that will be using frequently, right clicking the tray icon, selecting “create new phrase” and dragging it to the desired folder. To get a better feel for how PhraseExpress actually operates I suggest watching some of the many videos available on their website. These really did open my eyes to the potential uses of this application and got me thinking of how one might build their own customized folder and menu structure that would make his application very useful in the right environment. Reviewer 6 – Peter Royle: I got off to a really rocky start with this program, and had considerable trouble in getting it sorted out. The support offered by the developers in my first issue was not satisfactory -- although the problem I was having seems to have been resolved somehow. It may or may not have had to so with the bug report that I submitted. The next two issues that I raised did eventually get resolved, but it took me a lot of time and effort, as I had to explain myself several times before being able to sort them out. In the case of my fourth question, I again had to work quite hard to explain myself. At one point, it seemed that we were not going to resolve it at all. But less than an hour later, I got another notice from the PhraseExpress people, who had completely rewritten the video tutorial that was the source of my trouble. With this quite unexpected gesture, my opinion of the PhraseExpress support went from being very disappointed to being quite impressed. They did, after all, clear up all the issues that I raised. Eventually, I was able to explore many of the features of this rather complex program. I suggest that one should first experiment with the Free version to try out the most useful features of PhraseExpress and carefully examine those features before purchasing any of the three commercial versions. Unless there is a real need for the features of the Professional version, I cannot recommend it at its current price, particularly since it is restricted to use on only one computer. Will you continue to use it? Reviewer 1 – Name Withheld By Request : No. Reviewer 2 – Name Withheld By Request: No. Reviewer 3 – Mark Snyder: No. Reviewer 4 – Dana Cardwell. No, I discovered that I don’t use the same phrases often and what other functions Phrase Express Pro could provide I could easily obtain from the application I use most often. Not using Phrase Express Pro would be one less program in my startup list and that much less resources needed. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: PhraseExpress takes approximately 0.4% RAM of an average PC. Reviewer 5 – Dana Bostick: Overall, while it was quite powerful, I found PhraseExpress to be overkill for my personal use. To be an effective tool, one would have to invest the time to customize it for their needs. I have other solutions that, while not as powerful, suit my needs better and are much simpler and easier to use. For that reason, I will not be continuing to use it and will uninstall it; however, in the right environment and situation PhraseExpress could be a "killer" application. Gunnar Bartels, General Manager, Bartels Media GmbH, representing PhraseExpress, responded: Why not stick with the Easy Mode in PhraseExpress? I would be keen to learn which other software could be easier to use compared to PhraseExpress in Easy Mode. Reviewer 6 – Peter Royle: I will continue to use it on my second computer. At least for the time being it will not replace the program that I now use on my work computer that has many of the features of PhraseExpress. |